Lots of good advice. Here's what I'm thinking now.

I work in a cubicle with no place to hang clothes and I have very little room. We have no shower facilities or any spare rooms where I could store clothes easily. I like the idea of the pannier bag because (a) I don't like the heavy backpack on by back and (b) the backpack is really hot during the summer.

They do make pedals that clip on one side and not on the other. However, I'm not putting those on my bike. I not only road ride with that bike, but I also do triathlon. It gets weekly use as a roadie. Also, I have LOOKs. That means I'd have to buy the pedals and the cleats for my shoes, and every time I wanted to ride with the LOOKs I'd have to switch over pedals and cleats. Just not something I'm willing to do. I could use my road bike for the commute but it just isn't carefree like I want it to be. When I ride roadie style I'm on farm to market roads and low traffic areas, and I'm never not on my bike. Commuting with a $3,000 bike just doesn't put my mind at ease at all. And there is no option for putting fenders on even if I could bring myself to do it, which I couldn't. I'm leaning towards the used hardtail or hybrid idea and putting on cheap racks/panniers. If I can do that for less than $250 maybe the wife will go for it.

The rubberbands thing is great. I'll have to give that a try. I'm not looking to Tour de France it to work, just a nice casual slow ride in where I don't have to worry about curbs or clipping in and out or laying the bike down or chaining it up outside the convenience store. Oh wait, as I'm writing this I'm remembering that my FIL has a Specialized Expedition that he rarely ever uses. Maybe I can ride that for a few months until I get the hang of things.

You guys have helped a lot. Good advice all around. I'll try to post an update if I can get things rolling. Thanks.